Poland clashes during independence day celebrations

Police in Poland arrest 276 rioters after violence breaks out at a march in
Warsaw to celebrate Polish independence day

By Matthew Day, Warsaw

1:20PM GMT 12 Nov 2014

Police in Poland arrested 276 rioters after violence broke out at a march in Warsaw to celebrate Polish independence day.

Riot police used tear gas and water cannon to quell the fighting as rioters pelted police lines with fireworks, bottles and cobblestones during a series of clashes that left 75 people, including 51 policeman, injured.

Violence has become a regular feature of Polish independence day on November 11, with far-right groups converging on Warsaw for little other reason than to attack the police and to target anything they deem “un-Polish”.

This year two marches of about 30,000 people in total celebrating Poland’s national day passed off peacefully before a small number “hooligans” began to attack street signs and bus stops close to the country’s national football stadium in the hope of provoking a police reaction.

“We had to deal with riots by hooligans who came here not to celebrate independence,” said Mariusz Sokolowski, a police spokesman. “This year we wanted to separate them from everybody else, and I think we succeeded at doing this.”

With many of the rioters using masks and scarves to cover their faces, Bronislaw Komorowski, the Polish president, called for the country’s parliament to pass a law making it an offence to hide your identity in certain circumstances such as during a demonstration.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Komorowski had presided over formal celebrations marking Polish independence and led a huge public “Together for Independence” march, and military parade through central Warsaw.